


The Long Haul Will Prevail

by kangelique



Series: The Emma and Killian Winter Fluff [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: "Because I'm in this for the long haul", Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Cute, Emma sucks at waiting too, F/M, Family Feels, Funny, Gen, I can't believe I actually got this done in time, Itty Bit of Angst, Killian and his hook and Leia holding on to the hook, Leia is adorable, SUPER domestic, almost no angst, lots of affection because yesss, parent worries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21867811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kangelique/pseuds/kangelique
Summary: Back when they'd returned from Neverland, Killian had promised he was in this for the long haul. Technically this is still it, and technically fear shouldn't grip Emma's heart anymore as she sneaked down to watch her kids try to open their presents early.  But it's a scary feeling, to think you'll be left behind -specially now that Emma isn't sure if Henry will make it in time for Christmas morning. Luckily Killian is there to remind her to live in the here and now.
Relationships: Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan
Series: The Emma and Killian Winter Fluff [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1588822
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	The Long Haul Will Prevail

**The Long Haul Will Prevail:**

Emma's fuzzy socks glided her against the hardwood floor as she crept along the hallway, following the sounds of paper ruffling and energetic whispering. She paused at the foot of the stairs and gripped the rail adorned with red and green tinsel swirling all the way to the bottom. She leaned forward -the heels of her feet balancing precariously on the edge of the stair- and spotted the two small kids crouched underneath the tree; the ornaments were bobbing lightly and confidently above their bent heads, the tip of the golden star making contact with the ceiling and staring back at Emma smugly because its purpose had already been executed.

Her gaze swept to the rocking chair by the corner, right next to the dying flames on the fireplace, where Hope was snoring loudly. Her face was half-buried in a pillow and instinct told Emma to go and pull the blanket up where it had slipped down her arms, maybe even get the chance to caress her wavy black hair before she woke up and insisted she was _too old for this now._ Apparently she was old enough to wear eyeliner though, and dodge her or Killian's attempts to walk her to the bus stop.

A pang of dread hit her, but she smiled when she looked over at Leia and Charles again. She wanted to savor how the twinkling lights caused the curls falling down Leia's back to appear like falling sunshine, and how Charles' dark brown hair was made faintly auburn because of the moonlight streaming through the window. Beyond the glass would be the quiet street and turned-off lamp posts the eve had always faded into over the years. None of this was fair and there went her throat closing without permission.

They wouldn't last like this forever, and of course the six stockings needle-pointed by Granny would still hang on the mantel, each of their names elegantly displayed in cursive, but soon they would be like Henry and she'd want them to return home the second they walked out the door. 

She stopped chewing on her lip when her bubble was broken by a soft huff of frustation downstairs, and she had to swallow back a chuckle instead. She pressed her lips together and tilted her head, squinting to get a better look when her foot slipped and -a hand caught her by the hip, an arm instantly wrapping around her waist and pulling her flush against a warm chest.

"Careful love," his gravelly voice whispered in her ear, and the tension immediately dissipated from her shoulder blades. He pressed his palm flat into her stomach, giving her heart the chance to slow. She exhaled softly and blinked once when the fact that she hadn't fallen settled after a moment. "I mean I do quite like the idea of you returning to me in one piece."

"Yeah," Emma breathed and turned around in his arms. His eyes remained slightly wide, but she smiled at him and his face shifted to something less alarmed. The hearts jumping out of their chests whenever one or the other was in danger had never fully gone away after the Underworld, so she squeezed his arm and nodded once. "Too many close calls, I know. But worst case scenario here is I'd break a leg -maybe. Depends how hard I hit it."

"I'd rather you not bring up such results," Killian said with a frown. 

"Except I've got magic, babe, so it's good," Emma replied cheerfully. He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I'm serious," she said. "Not like I'd ever fall on purpose to prove it to you, but don't forget the three cheaters down there also have magic so they're my backup plan."

"Oh, is that so."

"If I can't heal myself they sure as hell can." Emma paused, the side of her mouth twisting in consideration. "Well maybe just Hope."

"Now that you mention it I doubt she's lent a hand to their pursuit."

"Yeah cause she knows they're breaking the rules. She's literally asleep right now and..." Emma cocked her chin and stared at him curiously, at the faint smile he had on. "And anyway, isn't that where you're supposed to be too?"

Killian scoffed, "What, deep in slumber?" and her eyebrows flew up when the sound cut through the silence like a sharpened knife. She pushed her finger against his lips in a _shhh_ and chanced a glance behind her. When she turned her head back, the smirk had inched across his face, intensifying when he pursed his lips and pecked her skin with a soft smack. Emma took her finger off with a thin smile and stretched on tiptoes to wrap her hand around the back of his neck. "Besides," he whispered, forehead meeting hers. "I couldn't possibly, something was missing."

"I wonder what," she said, and he nudged her nose in response. The smile she was wearing only grew. "Or who," she added before her eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, how long do you think they've been down there?"

"Not long." 

Emma pulled away a bit to look at him. He smiled sheepishly at the question she wasn't asking, the red breaking over his cheeks and reaching the tip of his ears when he shook his head. "Really, how interesting."

"Alright, perhaps you weren't the only one intrigued, darling."

"I knew it! You came to spy on them too, why am I not surprised. I swear I saw you getting up but then I just told myself I was hallucinating."

Killian arched an eyebrow, grinning. "There's no need to lie, Swan, I'm well aware that you were too-"

"Tired, say tired, you better not say lazy."

"Fine," he sighed, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. "I shall abide by your wishes, that you were too _tired_ to truly realize what I was doing."

"Nice save."

"That's not quite how I would call it, it was more of a gentle nudge, if you will."

"Yep, that's me," Emma said eagerly, chuckling with him.

For a moment they stood there, smiling at each other like idiots. But her mind drifted to the six stockings, and the air tinged with an emptiness and her smile disappeared. Her face scrunched up when she stepped back, but all the energy zapped out of her when she sighed and dropped her forehead against his chest. Killian chuckled warmly, his hand finding her back and holding her firmly to him. She closed her eyes when his cheek landed on top of her head, and his fingers brushed the ends of her hair, burying themselves in and twisting with the locks; the knots keeping her stomach tied loosened, just a little. 

"Care to enlighten me, Swan, or shall I take a guess?"

"Henry," Emma said simply.

"You needn't worry about that, love, I'm sure the lad will make it in time."

"It's not that." Emma shook her head, balling the fabric of his t-shirt in her fist. His hook knocked on her side gently, reminding her to go on until she finally said it out loud. "It's just...just time is, you know."

She sucked at saying it out loud.

"Passing rather quickly than you expected?"

He was better at it, of course.

" _Exactly._ And, like, what the hell, Killian, you already knew."

Killian scoffed again. "Open book, don't tell me you've forgotten."

"Nah, just wanted you to say it because I'm kind of having a mini-freak out inside. Everyone is...I don't think I'm ready."

Killian lifted his head and stepped back to look at her. His beautiful blue eyes locked with hers, and he smiled understandingly. She was still biting her lip when he cupped her cheek and leaned down to press his lips to her forehead. Her hands flew to the front of his shirt, tugging on it to keep his lips brushing her skin. That always worked, and this time the assurance almost sunk in. "I beg to differ, sweetheart, for I believe they will always come back to what they need, and you and I, that's what it is. The future is nothing to be afraid of, this I promise."

"Maybe."

"Emma."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay fine. A half-maybe."

He sighed, "I'll take that as an acceptance nonetheless."

"Don't, I'm still not convinced."

"Aye, I know."

"In the meantime though," Emma continued, a mischievous smile playing at both corners of her mouth. "Ready to be fake surprised?"

A wide grin broke across his face. "By all means, lead the way."

Emma giggled and jumped up to peck his lips. She entwined their fingers together and spun around, the voice in her head currently spitting out doubts retiring for the moment as she pulled him down the stairs.

She snapped her fingers at the same time her foot hit the floor, and the living room light instantly turned on. Leia and Charles gasped, jolting up like they'd been electrified, their hands flying behind their backs and stumbling back several steps. Emma managed to bite back a laugh -their eyes so wide, they were green saucers- but Killian just dropped his face to her hair and his soft chuckling reverberated from her head to her spine, goddamn. 

Leia huffed, the ethereal glow fading from her palm when she dropped it against her side. She turned her disappointed expression at the coffee table she'd bumped into while Charles sagged against the arm of the couch. He prompted his chin on the heel of his hand and Emma was never going to get over how it was so _Killian._

"Shit, sorry guys."

All four heads snapped in the direction of Hope's scratchy voice. Her face was dazed as she tore the blanket off, and her arms shot out wildly as she tried to pull herself to her feet. The pillow landed on the carpet, and her legs wobbled slightly when she finally stood. "I guess I fell asleep," Hope yawned loudly, rubbing one eye with her fist.

"Yeah, some look-out you made," Charles mumbled. Hope stopped rubbing her eye to glare at him with the other. "What, Hope, what?"

"You were taking forever!"

"Actually that's on Leia."

"You snitch, I was not!" Leia stomped her foot, crossing her arms roughly. Her frown deepened when she glanced back at him, the tick in her jaw intensifying. He threw his hands in the air and Emma blinked, a smile pulling on the edges of her mouth.

"Did you see that, did you see that thing she just did," Emma said, slapping Killian's chest. He caught her hand and she twisted her neck a bit to look at him, sure that her eyes were bright. "That's all yours, tiger."

"Well she did hail from me, Swan, I would hope so," Killian quipped back with a grin."

"Duh." Normally this was the part where she rolled her eyes, but he kissed the top of her hair and screw that. She closed them instead and turned her body enough to lay her head on his shoulder. A pleased hum shot through her veins when he tucked a stray strand behind her ear, sparks still breaking underneath her tank top as his arm encircled her waist, tugging her closer. 

Hope groaned, effectively cutting a hole through their bubble. "Okay, I'm done, can you save some of that mushiness for, like, when I'm not here and have my headphones on. Thanks, much appreciated."

"My apologies, little love, have we brought forth your discomfort," Killian asked innocently, pressing another kiss to Emma's hair with a smirk. This time Leia and Charles made a gagging noise and Emma laughed.

"Yep, and I'm going to sleep now, byeeee."

Emma attempted to grab her, but Hope ducked under her arm and disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.

"You owe me a hug," she called anyway. Her gaze slid back on the remaining two. "Which reminds me, it's time for bedtime. Come on, you guys gotta go too, or else you're all gonna be dead in the morning for when Grandma and Grandpa come." And Henry. Her kid would make it on time, right?

"But mooom," Leia whined.

"Nope," Emma shook her head. "Presents are for the morning, princess, you know this."

"Honestly, this is kind of dirty play because you enchanted all of them," Charles said. "and we haven't even learned that spell yet. Not even Hope's ass knows."

"Uh, excuse me, language."

Leia ran forward, hands smacking on either side of Killian's knees. He looked down and she stared right back at him with widened emeralds and a small smile gracing her lips. "Daddy?" she said hopefully, clasping her hands together as if in please.

Emma crossed her arms. Oh, that was smart. She waited for the exact moment when his trying-to-be-stern-but-I-love-you-too-much expression slowly softened, and in less than five seconds, Killian sighed. He couldn't deny her anything.

"Perhaps allowing her to open one wouldn't do her any harm, love," he said, placing his hand and hook on Leia's shoulders. Leia nodded enthusiastically.

"But it's supposed to be a surprise," Emma hissed. "Don't go weak on me now."

"Watch Leia," Charles piped in as he straightened, taking a couple steps closer to the corner of the coffee table. He smiled way too knowingly. "Dad's going to agree."

"Damn it, are you all against surprises now? You love surprises. This is Christmas, you need to be surprised, the whole point is to be surprised."

"Indeed, but I thought the true purpose behind this celebration was to be in gratitude for your loved ones," Killian said with a raised eyebrow. Emma shrugged.

"And plus baby Jesus' birthday," Leia added.

"Yeah so wrong holiday, dad," Charles answered. She and Leia nodded. Killian only tilted his head, the eyebrow stretching to his forehead. "Cause that's Thanksgiving, remember? And this is like presents and Santa Claus and lots of cheesy songs and ItotallysawtheHarryPotterbooksyouguysgotme, I'm out!"

He flicked his wrist, and before the protest was out of her mouth, there was a sudden thud and their attention swung to the ceiling.

"You alright there lad?" Killian called.

No response.

"Hope does it better," Leia snickered.

"God I knew I should have held off on teaching them that one." Emma turned around to rub her temples. They could easily come and go now, they could leave. Just like that.

Out of the corner of her eye was Killian's questioning frown, so she inhaled a deep breath. She spun around, doing her best to ignore the returning knots, and glanced at Leia with a half-strained smile. "Leia, baby, daddy's gonna tuck you in. No more sneaking down with your brother and sister, okay?"

"Sooo, I _can't_ open one, mommy?"

"You still can't."

"Are you sure?"

"One-hundred percent."

Leia sighed, her head dangling. "Fine," she mumbled with a frown. Emma gestured at him to hurry up and take her up. He nodded at the same time Leia whipped her head up and threw open her arms, wiggling her fingers at him expectantly. "Carry me," she demanded, and Killian gave Emma a meaningful look - _Yours,_ it said, and she rolled her eyes.

"It would be my pleasure," Killian responded, bowing his head. Leia giggled when he easily scooped her up with his arm -Emma's heart melted as it usually did whenever she wrapped her small hand around the curve of his hook- and as he straightened back up, her cheek fell to his shoulder, eyelids almost immediately drooping. "Come on then, Your Little Highness, let's sail away."

He winked at Emma before he turned around, and the steadily beating organ in her chest may or may not have become unsteady.

"Do the wave noise," Leia muttered, tugging on his hook impatiently. "I like the wave noise."

Her eyes followed them until he reached the first landing and hoisted Leia up slightly. She spun on her heel and headed straight for the mountain of presents; the sound of his soft "swoosh, swoosh" becoming fainter behind her. 

As she kneeled on the floor, Emma's gaze roamed over the wrapping paper, searching for any tears or signs of a finger having poked through. She tugged on the bows Killian had tied, some of them on the verge of loose thanks to Leia and Charles. A slow hover of her palm over them and she plopped back on her feet with a satisfied smile, the bows once again tightened. She was about to push off the floor when a small squared-shaped box caught the corner of her eye, resting on top of a branch and half-hidden by a golden orb and a hanging candy cane. Her hand automatically reached for it, but she withdrew it back slowly and glanced at the stairs over her shoulder.

Emma tugged on the ends of her hair thoughtfully, lip between her teeth. Maybe it was hers. Come on, it was probably hers.

She grabbed it, and it was so hers. The _To: Emma_ written in that cursive handwriting she was jealous of, and the _From:_ left blank as always. Of course it was from Killian. Of course he'd suspected he had to hide it from her because she brought it to ear and shook it hard.

Nothing.

Weird. She held it between her hands, staring at it like it would reveal whatever was inside. Except it didn't, and so she scratched at the shiny, crimson paper lightly. Her eyes widened when the rip came, but fuck it, she continued scratching. A slash was created by her nail, and she was about to poke her finger through when-

"Swan?"

"Killian!" Emma jumped up, holding the box to her chest with widened eyes. She briefly considered tossing it into the pile of presents when he tapped his hook on her hip, and his arm snaked around her waist. He pulled the box from her tight grasp with a click of his tongue, and laughed when Emma blew out a breath, damn it.

"Feeling curious, are we?"

"No," she retorted, crossing her arms as she turned around to meet his amused expression.

His arm fell to his side, and he swayed towards her, smirking. Emma tried not to lean into the warmth his body exuded, firmly keeping her ground. "Forgive me, but it doesn't appear like that from where I'm standing."

"Maybe you're just seeing wrong then."

"Perhaps," he conceded but wiggled his eyebrows. "Though I do find it strange because I seem to recall you speaking of _rules_ and _surprises_ , and how did you call them again? Oh, _cheaters_ is what you deemed those incapable of impatience and yet."

"Okay fine," Emma laughed, dropping her head on his shoulder. "Maybe I did say that, but it's not the same because I made the rules so I don't have to follow the rules cause I'm your wife so ha!"

Killian wrinkled his nose and she did too at the river of words. "Somehow I fail to see the logic in that, love."

"Well it's there, somewhere." Emma shrugged and took a step back, her hands on either side of his waist. She looked up at him with batting eyelashes. "So can I have my present back?"

"You most certainly cannot."

"You're seriously going to make me wait."

There was a twinkle in his eyes and he nodded. "Exactly like the children you chastised."

"This is stupid," she huffed. "I should get to do it."

Killian only smiled knowingly and opened his arm. Before he motioned with his hook, she was already tucked against his side and pressing her nose to his chest. "Tell me," he said as he steered them in the direction of the stairs. "What makes you believe such a thing?"

"Fuck the waiting," Emma said and he barked out a laugh.

"Eloquent," he remarked.

"More like honest, and honestly, I'm dying to know. Can I have a hint?"

"The hint is that I love you."

Emma frowned. "That's not fair, I already know that."

"Then conjuring a guess shouldn't be so difficult."

She chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment and grinned up at him. "Pretty please with cherries on top or whatever."

Killian abruptly stopped on the third stair, and Emma cursed under her breath when her foot slipped -again. She shot him a What-The-Hell look, but she blinked and his hand was cupping her cheek again and her eyes closed on reflex when he captured her lips.

"So are you gonna...?"

"Tomorrow," he whispered and she sighed.

"Fine, _fine._ But for the record I'm not telling you either."

"Wonderful since I'm in this for the long haul," Killian reminded her. The meaning in those words made it hard to swallow, and she almost pulled him down for another kiss right there.

Instead Emma waited until they were in the safety of their bedroom to card her fingers through his hair and whisper, "Yeah, I know." into his mouth in between a mess of tangled legs and sheets slipping down her backside.

Leia was the first to pound on their door, and it was a blur of black and yellow hair as they ran down the stairs.

Henry's car rolled to a stop in front of their house around 8:15 AM, and she may or may not have hugged him to death before he'd barely crossed the threshold. 

The smell of chocolate chip pancakes and sizzling bacon filled the air, and tears gathered in her eyes when she finally opened the box and glanced up to meet Killian's gaze and mouth 'I love you too'.

He was right.

They were in this for the long haul, and as she looked around from her cross-legged position in the middle of the living room, Emma didn't need them to stay like this forever. This moment here was everything, and there would always be more everything's. 

**Author's Note:**

> -Merry Christmas, guys! Hope you have a good time with your family and friends, and just overrall, enjoy the day. 
> 
> -Also, if you have a moment, thoughts?


End file.
